Biotin
Recognition of nucleic acids by endosomal Toll-like receptors (TLR) is essential to combat pathogens, but requires strict control to limit inflammatory responses. The mechanisms governing this tight regulation are unclear. We found that single-stranded oligonucleotides (ssON) inhibit endocytic pathways used by cargo destined for TLR3/4/7 signaling endosomes. Both ssDNA and ssRNA conferred the endocytic inhibition, it was concentration dependent, and required a certain ssON length. The ssON-mediated inhibition modulated signaling downstream of TLRs that localized within the affected endosomal pathway. We further show that injection of ssON dampens dsRNA-mediated inflammatory responses in the skin of non-human primates. These studies reveal a regulatory role for extracellular ssON in the endocytic uptake of TLR ligands and provide a mechanistic explanation of their immunomodulation. The identified ssON-mediated interference of endocytosis (SOMIE) is a regulatory process that temporarily dampens TLR3/4/7 signaling, thereby averting excessive immune responses.
Though many alternative methods to tuberculin skin testing (TST) have been established and evaluated in recent years, sensitivities and specificities of most methods could not meet the requirements of golden standards. In this study, we sought to identify whether repeated TSTs could affect the immune responses in experimental monkeys. Nine natural tuberculosis (TB) monkeys receiving repeated TSTs biweekly were used to demonstrate the effect on TST responsiveness. Two healthy monkeys were administrated with repeated TSTs to analyze the immune response profiling. Intrapalpebral reactions in TB infections gradually weakened or presented intermittent positive reactions. The leukocyte counts, cytokine responses, and antibody responses to all antigens except Old tuberculin (OT) and MPT64L showed no specific changes for TB in healthy monkeys. Positive antibody responses to OT and MPT64L emerged during the first half experimental period, which may cause by their cross-reactivity with mycobacterial species. Results showed that repeated TSTs had no significant effects on immune responses in healthy monkeys but a progressive reduction in TST responsiveness in TB infections.